Effects of analcime zeolite synthesized from local pottery stone as nucleating agent on crystallization behaviors and mechanical properties of isotactic polypropylene

Abstract

This study reported the synthesis of analcime zeolite (AN‐zeolite) from a local pottery stone via hydrothermal method using 2 M NaOH at 120°C for 8 h in a Teflon‐lined stainless steel autoclave. The as‐synthesized AN‐zeolite was characterized for its phase composition, morphology, and particle size using X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering analysis, respectively. Subsequently, the AN‐zeolite was used as a nucleating agent for isotactic polypropylene (iPP). The prepared nucleated iPP was analyzed for its crystallization behaviors (by XRD, polarized optical microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry), mechanical properties (impact strength and tensile properties), and morphology. It was found that the AN‐zeolite can induce to form a mass of α‐crystal and only a little β‐crystal in the iPP, along with the significant increase in the nuclei content, crystallization rate, and crystallization temperature, but a substantial decrease in the spherulite size. In addition, the incorporation of an appropriate amount of the AN‐zeolite into the iPP caused an increase in the impact strength (at 1.25 wt% optimal), tensile strength (at 1.25 wt% optimal), and Young's modulus (at 2 wt% optimal), but a deterioration of the elongation at break with increasing AN‐zeolite content compared with the neat iPP. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 24:E85–E95, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers

Effects of nucleating agent content on the microstructure and macroscopic performances of polypropylene analyzed by non‐isothermal crystallization behaviors and isothermal crystallization morphologies

“…Figure 1 shows the WAXD profiles of neat PP and nucleated PPs with different content of nucleating agent, and the main crystal parameters d and and crystallinity () were listed in Table 2 according to Equation () and (). Six characteristic peaks indicating the existence of α phase at 2 θ of 14.1, 16.9, 18.6, 21.1, 21.9, and 25.6° for all samples which were assigned to the crystal planes of (1 1 0), (0 4 0), (1 3 0), (1 1 1), (1 3 1), and (0 6 0), respectively 36–38 . And one distinct peak at 2 θ of 16.1° was observed in both PP and PP‐0.1 NA, showing the presence of (3 0 0) lattice plane of the β phase.…”

“…However, Balkaev et al 23 prepared calcium stearate/PP composites and found the tensile strength decreased from 32.2 to 29.3 MPa when calcium stearate as a nucleating agent reached the content of 0.25 phr. And Chuayjuljit et al 38 also found the elongation at break of analcime zeolite/PP composites reduced from 12.4% to 6.6% when analcime zeolite as the nucleating agent gets the content of 0.5 phr. Based on the respective analysis in the literature, the above reversed tendencies compared to Table 6 were mainly caused by the worse dispersion of the nucleating agent, which was controlled well in this work.…”

“…Six characteristic peaks indicating the existence of α phase at 2θ of 14.1, 16.9, 18.6, 21.1, 21.9, and 25.6 for all samples which were assigned to the crystal planes of (1 1 0), (0 4 0), (1 3 0), (1 1 1), (1 3 1), and (0 6 0), respectively. [36][37][38] And one distinct peak at 2θ of 16.1 was observed in both PP and PP-0.1 NA, showing the presence of (3 0 0) lattice plane of the β phase. And the β phase disappeared as the nucleating agent content increased, indicating that the nucleating agent belonged to the α-shape which was further confirmed by the single peak of thermal behaviors in DSC.…”

Wollastonite and talc reinforced polypropylene hybrid composites: Mechanical, morphological and thermal properties

“…In addition to the conventional applications, PP can also be widely employed as fibers and engineering plastics due to its excellent balance of mechanical, thermal, chemical, and electrical properties. The major users of PP are related to the packaging industries, household appliances, electrical devices, automotive industries, ropes, upholsteries, constructions, etc., because PP has several beneficial and desirable properties, such as light weight, good stiffness, high tensile and flexural strength, good chemical, fatigue, thermal and electrical resistances, easy processability, and recyclability [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Nevertheless, PP has been found to suffer from some shortcomings, including poor toughness and notched impact resistance especially at low temperature, which may be due to its relatively high glass transition temperature (Tg ~ -10℃ to 0℃) and crystallized ability that generally forms large spherulites, leading to the presence of voids at the spherulite boundaries and the reduction in its toughness and impact resistance [5,[8][9][10].…”

“…However, the consumption of PP over the years has been very high and continuously increased, mainly owing to a large variety of available added fillers, and the steady improvement of its property profiles in all fields (academia and industry) [11]. Use of inorganic mineral fillers for preparing polymer composites is a straightforward and convenient method for reducing the cost of plastic products and also improving some properties of polymers, especially mechanical and thermal properties, such as tensile strength, stiffness, tear strength, abrasion resistance, heat distortion temperature (HDT), flame retardancy, and thermal stability [2,6,7,[11][12][13][14][15][16].…”